I have what, to me, seems a very strange affair.
Some days ago I was fiddling about on my No 2 machine, which is really just a standby for when management is using the one in the dining room for her Marjong and emails etc.
I was surprised that the picture quality was quite a bit better than on the No.1 machine. So I checked the Mozilla add-ons and found that the Adobe flash plugin on No.2 machine was version 10.0.1.42.
This morning I had a look at No.1 machine and it was still running Adobe flash plugin ver.9.**** something, so I removed it by “apt-get remove” and then downloaded a the latest deb offering from the Adobe site.
On trying to install it I was informed a later version already existed on the machine!!
So I went and looked in the Synaptic package manager, and sure enough that seemed to confirm this assertion. This was odd because the Shockwave entry had been erased from the Mozilla add-ons list in Firefox..
I did a total uninstall of the Adobe flash plugin 10.**** via the Synaptic package manager and then went and downloaded the latest deb from the Adobe site.
Once again I was told a later version already existed on the machine!!
A file search turned up a deb for Adobe flash plugin version 10.042.34.2 in var/cache/apt/archive.
I remember downloading an Adobe flash plugin 10 package some time ago and then finding out that there had been some “issues” with Ubuntu 8.04 and I had not bothered with it. How it got into this location is a mystery.
So the problem is what to do to get Adobe flash plugin back on the scene again. If I just move the package in var/cache/apt/archive into the deleted folder will the installation of a new package be accepted? Or is the file in var/cache/apt/archive just a red herring and something else is causing the problem?.
I would be very happy receive any thoughts on this that might be relevant.

I am totally confused. I have messed about most of this morning trying to get Adobe Flash to install and I failed abysmally.
I then realised that the plugin on no.2 machine was listed as "Shockwave Flash" and furthermore googling suggested that I should probably go via "Flashplugin-nonfree".
I did just that, and found myself back with with Shockwave Flash 9.0.r260 on No.1 machine, and yet No.2 somehow has Shockwave Flash 10.0.r42 on it.

It seems as though yet again I have been confused by one thing being refered to by two different names.
Or am I even more confused than I think I am?

Thanks for your reply, nelz,
I'm sorry to have not replied sooner. I have been "otherwise engaged" for the last 24 hours......central heating motorised control valve problems.
I took the bull by the horns and I have simply reinstalled the OS on the No2 machine.(There was nothing else much on it). Theye are now both, as before, on Ubuntu 8.04.3. and, as I type this on No1, No2 is downloading 158 updates.
When it is finished I shall certainly have got rid of FlashPlugin 10 and, being all for a quiet life, I shall do as they do with sleeping dogs.
Thanks all.

catgate wrote:I took the bull by the horns and I have simply reinstalled the OS on the No2 machine.(There was nothing else much on it). Theye are now both, as before, on Ubuntu 8.04.3. and, as I type this on No1, No2 is downloading 158 updates.When it is finished I shall certainly have got rid of FlashPlugin 10 and

... be none the wiser as to the cause of the problem

"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." (Albert Einstein)

Sadly that is true.
However, from what I have read on the 'net over the last couple of days, and earlier, there appears to me to be some sort of compatibility problem with Adobe Flash 10 and Ubuntu 8.04 and 8.10.
Although it seemed to be working when it was originally installed, (by foolishly clicking on a "Download now" button on Youtube), earlier today it was not doing so.
My resolve some time ago, was to wait until the next LTS Ubuntu is released and then try again with SW10. I should not have taken that "spur of the moment" step and clicked "OK", and so with that in mind I took the steps reported in my last post.
My intention is to put back Shockwave Flash 9.0 when my bravado returns.

Just a little post to put this thing to bed and maybe help someone else.
I had another half day of floundering and was convinced that there must be some sort of incompatibility between Ubuntu 8.04.3 and Shockwave Flash 10.
So I downloaded and installed Ubuntu 8.04.4 and then it happily accepted Shockwave Flash 10. Well that's my version of events, even if it seems weird.
I find it odd because my 8.04.3 had been kept fully updated.

Due to my Yorkshire Luddite tendancies I shall be waiting for rather more than ollie's 70 days before switching, though I shall do so when I feel the time is right.
To bring the story up to date. This morning I was notified in the usual way that there was an update waiting.
It turned out to be an update for Adobe Shockwave Player flashplugin-nonfree_10.0.1.218+really9.0.262.0ubuntu1_i386.deb
Feeling that that it was coming from those who knew best I clicked to action it, which it seemed to do.
What it actually did with it is not totally obvious because in Firefox addons I have SWF 9.0 r 262, in /var/cache/apt/archives I have this mornings flashplugin-nonfree_10.0.1.218+really9.0.262.0ubuntu1_i386.deb, whilst Synaptic Package Manager lists Adobe flashplugin 10.045.2-1 as being available but not installed.
Is there any more tea in that pot??